He's Dead On

Wes has wanted a new gun for months, maybe a year now, and I have repeatedly said it was not worth the money. During this last extended TDY, Wes ate tuna packets and slept in a hotel in the ghetto for weeks on end so he could save his TDY money and buy a gun. Upon returning to TN, he immediately went to the gun counter at the PX and bought his prized rifle. He had sacrificed good food and nights of sound sleep and deserved his new toy.

Since then, Wes and the boys have been target shooting at the range several times this summer, and today Wes secured a pistol crossbow. The boys couldn't wait to try it out! They set up a make-shift target and got started.

Keagan shot and the dart flew over the target and into the bushes, never to be found. I shot and the dart flew over the target and into the bushes. Evan shot and the dart hit dead center!

I think Wes has found his new target shooting partner!

Anchor Down

Wes, twenty years ago anyway, had planned to go to Vanderbilt to study medicine. Thankfully AC made a better offer, but it is a little ironic that the Army has moved us so close to the city and campus that was included in his back-up plan. 

Basketball camp number two of the summer just happened and guess where the boys played? It takes very little to impress Keagan, so walking on to a college basketball court was enough to put him over the moon. Evan is a little harder to impress. However, I knew he was in his element when he was greeted on day one by one of the team's starters. 

On day two, Keagan reported they were treated like royalty when they were served chicken fingers, grilled cheese, cookies and fruit for lunch AND they were welcomed to eat seconds. I chose to attend the last thirty minutes of training and those few minutes probably included some great basketball, but I was so caught up in the smell of sweaty boys that I couldn't do much else but think about the smell that encompassed the gym. I quickly texted Wes my dilemma (wanted to watch but the smell was killing me) and he retorted, "Tomorrow bring a mint leave from that new plant we put in the ground yesterday and stick that up your nose. You can watch all the basketball you want with the fresh smell of mint."

On day three, both boys were happy to announce that they were playing for teams in first place.

On day four, they were excited to announce they got to watch the USA soccer game at lunch, and then they participated in the welcome home celebration for the baseball team. Keagan was thrilled to shake hands with the players, and even though Evan was tight lipped about the experience, I think he was excited to be apart of it as well.

Perhaps you have noticed that none of the reports include anything related to learning basketball drills or skills. However, neither boy argued when I woke them at 6:15 for a week during their summer vacation, and neither boy complained about the hour long drive to and from during rush hour traffic.

To say they enjoyed themselves is an understatement. At one session, I saw Evan doing reverse layups and Keagan driving into the paint to score baskets. They did learn something, after all. We will be back next year for sure, but before that, we will be cheering for the 'Dores at the home games this winter.

Life Lessons

Each visit with the girls proves to be a learning experience. My five and three year old nieces have no shortage of important information.

1. Learning to snap your fingers is a must if you want to be a teacher.
2. Making up songs about chewing gum can help you avoid any nap, and while it can be endearing the first five times you hear it, it can quickly become annoying by the tenth or twelve verse.
3. Topics of conversation can change quickly. Aunt Kacey, why does that truck have blinking lights? Do these clouds mean a storm is coming? Is that a lizard?
4. You can get away Scotch free after breaking glass objects if you can hide the broken piece AND all of the shards.
5. If you do break glass, then you should quickly yell a cousin's name so no one will know it is you.
6. Italian cream cake is a creamy cake made by people in Italy.
7. If you kiss a boy, it means you are married.
8. Vikki had a birthday on Friday, and according to the girls, she is now 40!

Never Too Old to Learn Something New

We pulled ourselves out of the pool today today so we could visit my 88 year old grandmother.

She is the most active 88 year old I have ever known with her multiple volunteer jobs and a social calendar busier than my own. During today's visit, the boys introduced her to the World Cup; she introduced the boys to her love of nature via her extensive rock collection.

Hangin' Out by the Pool

I absolutely hate to sit in a car for hours at a time. I hate to drive all of those hours even more, but it's all worth it in the end when we (finally) make it to our destination. This week we are hanging out in Texas with the family.  

Our first full day in town, and we spent it hanging out by the pool. Life doesn't get much better than this.

Especially when pool time includes these two!

This is Rocket Science

Despite Keagan's repeated cries that he was ready to get home to see his beloved cat, we took a short detour on the way home to see the Rocket and Space Center.

Wes was able to see his childhood dream of attending Space Camp come to fruition today. He was the only 30-something year old hanging out with the young campers. Oh, how I kid! However, he did walk through each Saturn V display and each simulator with child-like wonder.

I, meanwhile, was convinced that nothing is more humbling to one's level of intelligence than a walk through a rocket science museum.

Design your own Space Station

Flight Simulator

Get Your Motors Running

Thousands of dollars on accommodations, hundreds of dollars on food, and the boys' highlight of our annual beach trip was a $7 go-cart ride.  A go cart ride that lasted all of about five minutes. I guess this view just doesn't mean as much to the boys as it means to me.

In their defense, it was cloudy and there was a slight chance of rain, so we agreed to get away from the beach and ride go carts for just a couple of hours. Evan drives a go-cart like he plays soccer. No one gets past him - except for maybe Daddy.

Keagan loved the ride once he and Wes were able to pass Evan on the backside of the track, but he was frustrated beyond belief when he was told by the go-cart operator he was too short to drive a car on his own. Oh, the injustice of being shorter than big brother! He looked up at me with those long lashes fluttering and asked, "Just when am I going to grow, Mom? 

I guess I could save thousands of dollars and just take the boys go-cart racing next summer, but then I would miss watching this:

Summer just wouldn't be the same.

We Survived Putt Putt

You might recall we have a love hate relationship with miniature golf. Every beach vacation has resulted in a game of putt putt, and until last year, every game has resulted in tears.

Wes wasn't around last summer for our first tearless game so he was hesitant to agree to a game. However, it was decided on that long car ride south that parents would play boys at a highly contested battle of putt putt at the first threat of rain.

That was today. 

Evan got a hole in one. He celebrated with his hole-in-one-dance. 

Keagan tried every trick up his sleeve to distract Wes from doing the same. Unfortunately, he learned paybacks are hell.

And the parents left the course with the win!

The Beach

It is an awfully long drive to the beach when you live in Tennessee. Oh, how I miss that short drive we could take when we lived in Georgia! Eight hours and more construction zones than I care to remember later, we made it to paradise!

The beach is powder white and super clean, the seafood is spectacular, and the company has kept me laughing since we pulled out of the driveway!

Evan is already begging to play putt putt. That just might bring an end to my happiness! 

Until Next Time Because Goodbye is Not Allowed

In the Army, good-bye is a bad word. So when we said farewell to our new friends tonight we used the more customary and acceptable phrases of "The Army is a small world" and "until the next time our paths cross and "see you later." The truth, though, is good-bye is good-bye and word choice doesn't change that. 

Evan is adamant, even more so than last year, that he will not move again. Keagan has begun to adopt a similar mantra. Wes is already talking of retirement, and I'm still hoping to see the world on the Army's dime. 

Until then we are hoping for no more goodbyes, farewells, or see you laters.

It's Summer and We Aren't Moving

The boys finished one of three basketball camps of the summer today. Keagan told me yesterday he couldn't believe I had his calendar booked solid through the summer, and Evan responded, "Well, that's better than what we did last summer. Cleaning, packing, moving with a cat, unpacking and more cleaning is no way to spend a summer."

I hear you, Wise One. That's why when I look at this picture I am saddened that two boys are moving to Alabama next week and two more boys are PCSing to Colorado this weekend. But I'm also so thankful it's them and not us!

The Boys

Keagan's highlight of the week was demonstrating a dribbling skill for all of the campers "while everyone else, including the high schoolers, oohhhed and aahhhed over his skills." (Humble he is not.) The high school coach asked which school he attended, and when Keagan replied, the coach told him he looked forward to having him on his roster in six years. I didn't have the heart to tell Keagan we will have moved two times by the time those six years are completed.

Evan's highlight was having a three pointer competition with the high school players and WINNING! Of course, when I asked how camp went, he didn't give me the important details. Keagan went into the full story, though, when Evan, my boy of few words, said, "It was fun."

We are now headed to the store to buy water guns because we are making up for lost summer fun! 

He Said It

Keagan: "Mom, when I grow up and make it big in the NBA, the first thing I am gonna buy is a beach house for you. Then I'm gonna give some money to the American Cancer Society. Then I am gonna build houses for the homeless. But don't worry! I'll keep some money for me, too, because well...I earned it."

Me: "Oh, honey! That's so sweet. No one would expect you to give all of your money away, but it is thoughtful of you to consider how you can help others."

Two minutes later....


Keagan: "Mom, I think it would be cool to be a mailman because then you could steal everyone's birthday money. If I had a son, I would want him to be a mailman, too, so we could gather all of our stolen packages and share it."


This is something I never thought I would say: We are praying the whole NBA career comes to fruition because the alternative doesn't look promising enough.